6 Keys to Interpreting Your Dreams

What is your subconscious telling you?

By Stephanie Hertzenberg

Dream interpretation is one of the oldest arts on the planet. Ancient peoples believed that dreams were messages from the gods. The dreams of kings, court magicians, prophets and even ordinary people who were especially blessed could serve as warnings of disaster or evidence that the nation would be victorious in war against their neighbors. People traveled for days to reach seers and diviners who specialized in interpreting the dreams of others. The belief in the power of dreams survives today both in religion and in popular culture. Many religions have stories about holy men and women who were shown visions of upcoming disasters so that they could save their people. This idea that dreams can predict the future and give in-depth information about the present is still going strong in popular culture as well. Simply stick “dream interpretation” into any internet search engine and brace yourself for the veritable deluge of information that will bury your computer.

Some people take dream interpretation very seriously while others scoff at it. Dreams may not be able to give you much in the way of concrete specifics, but they are still valuable sources of information. Your dreams come straight from your subconscious. It is there that your brain stuffs clues, observations and questions that it was not able to examine in detail during the day. Those are then all thrown in a blender and chucked at you in your sleep with all the enthusiasm of a two year old left unattended with a bucket of paint. It may seem like a load of nonsense when you wake up, but your dreams really do have a lot to tell you if you are willing to sift through the layers of symbolism that your sleeping brain delights in creating. Here are six keys to interpreting your dreams and getting to the root of what your subconscious is trying to tell you.

Stephanie Hertzenberg is a writer and editor at Beliefnet. She is a graduate of the College of William and Mary where she majored in Religious Studies and minored in Creative Writing. She maintains an avid interest in health, history and science.

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